Nope, it’s not a typo. I say peasto, because there really isn’t any other word that sums up ‘pesto made from sweet peas’ as perfectly. (Pun unapologetically intended 😉 )

Pasta is an important part of daily life (that’s a scientific fact- go ask the guys at NASA!), and I rarely go a few days without eating some form of pasta. Making (sometimes from scratch) and eating all this pasta means I’ve done a considerable amount of crazy stuff with it. And once in a blue moon, the crazy stuff turns out to be surprisingly good, like today’s ‘peasto’.

The Chinese new year is looming round the corner, and here I am making Korean potato pancakes. The thing is, being Chinese doesn’t mean you automatically know how to cook the food. To me, ‘Chinese food’ basically amounts to a vegetable stir fry with soy sauce splashed in at some point. Pathetic, I know.

But what is not pathetic is today’s recipe for Korean potato pancakes. Unlike the regular pancakes, these pancakes are savoury and have a dense and slightly chewy texture. They are also gluten free and vegan because the pancakes are made entirely of potato- no flour, eggs, or milk!

It’s winter. And yes! I made ice cream. And guess what? It’s made with just a handful of ingredients and does not include sugar, dairy, or heart-stopping amounts of fats and cholesterol.

I’ve been waiting for a long while to share this ice cream recipe, and since summer isn’t coming round fast enough, I’m going to enjoy my ice cream now. Plus, it’s never too early in the year for ice cream- who needs summer when you’ve got scarves and jumpers and blankets and the warmest spot of sunshine near the window to cuddle up in while you enjoy your ice cream?

The other day Evelyn brought home some beautiful strawberries and left them on my desk. And they smelled so good! Fresh, sweet, summery and perfumed. As the afternoon wore on I battled the intense desire to gobble them up then and there, and the result of my victory is this luscious strawberry marmalade that goes wonderfully with freshly baked lavender scones.

In the few weeks since I started blogging about food, hummus has cropped up in my posts twice. Once in a burger form, and once in a bite-sized snack form. Guess what? Today I’m making hummus again. The thing is, I absolutely love hummus. (Once I even made it with a mortar and pestle!) A bowl of hummus rarely lasts a day in my kitchen, and you could catch me having hummus in sandwiches, salads, wraps, and even pasta. Yup, you heard me right.Hummus and pasta, it works.

But today we’re not going to talk about hummus and pasta. We’re celebrating hummus, and it shouldn’t have to share the spotlight. And this hummus does deserve the spotlight- it’s lemony, light and creamy, and the incorporation of toasted spices makes it delightfully earthy and aromatic. It’s just begging to be eaten!

I’ve been wanting to share this recipe for a while now. Don’t let the apparently weird combination of flavours put you off- trust me, it works! It’s a staple in my what-to-cook-for-dinner repertoire and it’s been well received by everybody who’s tasted it, including my brother who isn’t the biggest fan of soup!

What’s warm, vibrant, fluffy, comforting, and good for you? Guess again- it’s not a brightly coloured cat with amazing listening skills. That would have been awesome, but what I have today is miso rice with sprouts, and it also happens to be the perfect thing to improve a cold, grey, and rainy Monday when you happen to be stuck at home with a nasty cough. Continue reading →